


Smells Like Home

by angel_ponders



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Cooking, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Homesickness, M/M, Saint Petersburg, Surprises, katsudon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 15:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8997163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_ponders/pseuds/angel_ponders
Summary: Living with Victor was an amazing dream, but living in a country where you only spoke a couple dozen short phrases was incredibly difficult.  This is how Victor must have felt in Japan, but Victor never seemed as lost as Yuuri felt in Russia.  Besides being lost by the Cyrillic on the signs and the inability to talk to people outside the more English friendly tourist areas, the food was also vastly different and made a difference in a more subtle way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by [@Adrienne_kt](https://twitter.com/adrienne_kt)
> 
> Follow me on Twitter [@Angel_Kink](https://twitter.com/angel_kink)

Russia was different. Yuuri had been here before for the Sochi Grand Prix Final (or the “GPF of tears,” as he called it) and Rostelecom just a couple months ago. Both times he’d been so consumed with the competition he’d never really explored beyond the venues and hotels. Now he was living with Victor in Saint Petersburg indefinitely and he had to get used to the idea that this was his new home. This wasn't a brief visit. This was his reality now and he better warm up to the frosty new place he’d call ‘home.’ 

Living with Victor was an amazing dream, but living in a country where you only spoke a couple dozen short phrases was incredibly difficult. This is how Victor must have felt in Japan, Yuuri thought to himself, but Victor never seemed as lost as Yuuri felt in Russia. Then again, Victor had a much more adventurous spirit in regards to travel than Yuuri did, and many more years experience bouncing around the globe to various countries for competitions. Besides, Victor liked to take risks and put himself out there in a way Yuuri usually did not (though that was beginning to change). Victor took Japan easily. Yuuri was just barely getting by in Russia.

Besides being lost by the Cyrillic on the signs and the inability to talk to people outside the more English friendly tourist areas, the food was also vastly different and made a difference in a more subtle way. He’d spent five years in America and had grown used to American food, but was still able to find good Japanese restaurants or markets to buy ingredients to make his own dishes. It helped him battle the occasional bout of homesickness. They were never as good as his mother’s cooking, but it was close to home at least. In Saint Petersburg the Japanese restaurant options were subpar and there were no markets that catered to the ingredients he was used to working with. He was getting a tad homesick without _something_ to remind him of home.

“Yuuri,” Victor said one morning as they lazed sleepily in bed far longer than they should have. They had ice time on the rink before Yakov’s crew was set to take over and they were spending it in each other’s arms instead. Victor was curled behind Yuuri, arm wrapped around his waist and breath hot on his ear as he spoke. He left a gentle kiss on the back of Yuuri’s neck before continuing. “I have to run an errand tomorrow that may take up most of the day. I still want you to practice before Worlds, though.”

“Alone?”

“No, I’ve discussed it with Yakov. He’ll let you join them tomorrow for practice.”

“Mm,” Yuuri said as he rolled over to face his partner. “But what about you? Don’t you need ice time too?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a soft smile. “I can afford one day away. Besides, what was it you called me once? ‘Living Legend Victor Nikiforov?’”

“Shut up, Victor,” Yuuri said bashfully as he buried his face against his lover’s chest. It was the truth. Victor was a ‘Living Legend,’ but when he'd uttered the phrase to him he'd still been starstruck by the man. Now they were in love, engaged, and living together. The context was so different now. He was a little embarrassed by his fanboy past, even though he’d since moved on from viewing him as an unattainable celebrity crush. “That was a long time ago.”

“Less than a year ago,” Victor teased and Yuuri moaned with frustration. “Sorry I’m teasing so early. Such a dangerous thing to do before you get coffee.”

“Hmph,” Yuuri said stubbornly as he settled against Victor’s chest and felt the temptation to drift back off to sleep tug at his consciousness. 

“Living Legends can take a day off. You, however, have to beat me at Worlds,” he said as he carded his fingers through Yuuri’s hair. “I won’t let you quit until you have five gold medals to match mine. That means you’ve got to keep steady with your schedule.”

Yuuri sighed happily at the sensation of Victor playing with his hair. They really should get out of bed. If they left now they'd get three hours before Yakov’s crew took over the ice. Not much time, but they’d sometimes return after his crew left to squeeze in a couple of more hours before bed. They'd done that last night, actually, which made getting out of bed that much harder. They’d worked out a pretty amicable agreement with Yakov, though it did make for an unusual daily schedule. 

“What are you doing tomorrow anyway?” Yuuri inquired. They'd been living together for a month now and Victor never so much as went to the grocery store without inviting Yuuri along. This seemed like an all day excursion and his interest was piqued.

“That’s a secret!” Victor said, sounding a little too giddy for such an early hour of the day. “You’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Fine,” Yuuri said with a yawn. “I guess you're entitled to be sneaky sometimes.”

“Mhmm,” Victor said. “I am.”

\--

Training with Yakov’s crew was unusual. They were all kind to him on the ice - even Yurio - but Yakov was an intense instructor from the sidelines. As he didn’t really know Yuuri’s strengths and weaknesses as well as he did his other students, he made Yuuri run through his Free Skate program three times before unleashing a load of blunt criticism on him. Yuuri soaked it all up and worked on his quad flip and quad salchows, which Yakov thought could be strengthened. Victor had pretty much said the same, so at least he knew the two were on the same page. But Yakov didn’t deliver the message nearly as delicately as Victor did. While straightforward, it was hard to be insulted by Victor when he delivered the criticism with a smile on his face.

When practice was done for the day he was intercepted by Yurio as he exited the building. It was a surprise to see him there in the cold, phone in hand as he idly scrolled through social media. It was almost as though he'd been waiting for him. 

“You can’t go home yet,” the teen said, a hint of annoyance lacing his words.

“Uh… what?” Yuuri blinked and pulled the scarf slightly tighter around his neck. Saint Petersburg was far colder than home, too. Yet another difference reminding him of his surroundings. He felt the familiar pang of homesickness again.

“I don’t know. Victor is dragging me into this against my will. But you can’t go home for an hour.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Fuck if I know. You two are disgusting with your flirting.” Yurio pulled up his hoodie and scowled. 

“Flirting? What’s going on?”

“Shit, I've said too much anyway. Old man shouldn't have brought me into this.” He sighed. “I guess I can take you on a detour to Palace Square. It’s pretty cool looking. That’ll take about an hour to walk there, walk around, and get you back to your apartment.”

Yuuri’s heart skipped a beat when Yurio referred to it as ‘his’ apartment. He supposed that was correct. He wasn’t just a house guest. He’d completely moved in. They were engaged. They had plans to marry after Worlds (which Victor was confident Yuuri would win gold at). Victor had made space for all of Yuuri’s things and put his name on the lease right next to his own. Sometimes this realization was overwhelming, but sometimes it was exactly the right amount of comforting. 

“Wipe that smile off your face,” Yurio snapped. “Me taking you sight seeing while Victor plans whatever gross romantic thing he’s doing doesn’t mean we’re best friends now.”

“Of course, Yuri,” Yuuri said with a smile. The teen was as salty as ever, but Yuuri had grown to not take it personally. Even while insulting him, Yuuri could tell the kid had some level of appreciation for him now. He appreciated Yurio in return. Their friendship was an unusual one, but it worked for them.

-

An hour long distraction ended up stretching into an hour and a half and Yurio finally snapped. He was terrible at being a tour guide and clearly would rather be doing something else.

“Fuck this, I'm taking you home. It's cold and I'm tired.” 

Yurio texted furiously as they started walking back towards Victor and Yuuri’s apartment. It was only a ten minute walk from the square, but in the month he'd lived here he never bothered to see it. The ice rink was in the opposite direction so he just never bothered. It was a pretty impressive sight, but it was damn freezing in the middle of January, so Yuuri wasn't too bothered by the idea of heading back. A few minutes after the text was sent his phone rang and Yurio began cursing in Russian and what Yuuri assumed was Victor on the other end of the line. The furious conversation continued the entire walk back to the building. It even continued as they entered the apartment lobby and made their way up the stairs towards their third floor unit. 

When they got to the door Yurio hung up and banged on the door loudly. He shouted in English, probably for Yuuri’s benefit, which was odd considering the words being shouted were a bit insulting.

“Hey, Victor! I'm leaving your fiancé on your doormat and going home! Idiot!” He pounded on the door a couple more times and then turned on his heel to address Yuuri. “Just close your eyes or something. I'm done being your babysitter. Dasvidanya.”

And with that the teen was gone down the stairs and out of sight. Yurio had tried, but he was just a kid and had a life of his own. Victor often forgot that himself. But Victor forgetting things wasn’t exactly unusual. Yuuri had a key to the apartment anyway, but with Yurio's grand display on their doorstep he felt kind of awkward barging in on Victor if there was truly some grand surprise behind the door.

Said forgetful Russian threw the door open a moment later and looked just a tad frantic. His hair was somewhat disheveled and… was that flour on his cheek? Was he wearing an apron? What was that smell? It was familiar, like home, but… not quite easy to pin down exactly.

“Yuuri! Close your eyes you aren't supposed to be here yet!”

“What? O-okay,” he said as he let his eyelids fall shut.

Victor took him by the hands and guided him into the apartment. He had him take a seat at the table and then the Russian was gone to do whatever it was he was doing. Yuuri was horribly curious what was going on. He could sort of piece it together, but the gesture was unexpected and he was dying to see the details.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Nooo!” Victor shouted from the kitchen. “Less than five minutes. I'm almost done.”

“Um, so how was your day?” Yuuri asked somewhat teasingly.

“Very long,” Victor said briefly. He was obviously concentrating and not one for conversation. A few silent minutes passed as Yuuri listened to pans being shuffled around and the fridge briefly opening and closing. He tried to piece together a meal from the different sounds, but it could be anything. It smelled savory, though. But there was a sweetness in the air as well. He wondered if it was one single dish he was smelling or separate things.

“So you're cooking?”

“No peeking!”

“I'm not! You came to the door in an apron with flour on your cheek.” Yuuri inhaled. “And the house smells wonderful. Smells almost like home.”

“It _is_ home,” Victor said as he shuffled around in the kitchen. The emphasis made Yuuri’s heart clench. It was _their_ home. 

Yuuri could hear the sound of ceramic on tile and could tell Victor was prepping something quickly. It sounded like he was almost done, being placed in the bowls that he'd become familiar with in their kitchen. Then Victor was walking towards him and setting a couple of dishes down on the table. Yuuri opened his eyes and was amazed to see a bowl of katsdudon and a small plate to the side with mochi on it. He looked up at Victor, who was leaving the table again without even waiting for a reaction.

“Victor?” He turned to watch him retreat into the kitchen.

“I have more!” He came out of the kitchen a moment carrying a box with postal markings in Hirigana on it. He set the box on his own side of the table and opened the lid. “I had your mom send me all of your favorite snacks that I couldn’t find here.”

Yuuri stood to peer inside. Sure enough, his mom had sent all of his favorites in bulk. She’d sent him some care packages in college, too, and knew exactly what he wanted. This had been at Victor’s request, though, which was so unbelievably unexpected. They could barely communicate because of their language barrier. He wondered if he recruited Minako or Yuuko to translate or if he attempted to communicate with her in broken Japanese. Either way, it was a touching collusion between the people that mattered most to him.

“And you made this?” he said as he gestured towards the dinner and dessert that’d been placed in front of him.

“Yes. It's your mom’s katsudon recipe too. She sent some of the soy sauce she uses, too, so it should taste similar.” Victor sighed. “Not as good. I’ve been testing it for a couple hours. The same soy sauce brand helps, but some of the other ingredients are off. And I'm not as talented as she is, anyway.”

“And the mochi?” It was cute, but it wasn’t exactly one of his favorite dishes. 

“I just really liked mochi! If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it,” he said with a wink.

“All of this really goes against my diet right before Worlds,” he said with a sigh.

“Fine, the mochi is mine then,” Victor replied with a grin as he slid the plate towards his side of the table.

Yuuri covered his face with his hands, feeling tears beginning to prickle in the corner of his eyes. It was all too sweet. Some of the ingredients could probably have been found easily, but the dashi, sake, and mirin hadn’t been in any of the stores Yuuri had visited. Victor had to have worked hard to track them down. No wonder he’d been gone most of the day. He wondered how long he'd been scouting ingredients and what obscure parts of the city he had to travel to to find them.

Victor pulled him into a hug and stroked the back of his head gently. Yuuri melted into the embrace. Victor had gotten better about comforting him when he was going through an emotional moment. They'd come a long way from their melt down in Beijing. Gentle physical comfort like this helped.

“I thought I could only eat this when I won something?” he mumbled against Victor’s chest.

“Would it be too cliche to say you’ve won my heart?”

“A little,” Yuuri said with a chuckle. He removed his hands from his face and wrapped them around Victor. “But I’ll take it anyway.”

“Now let’s eat,” Victor said with a kiss to Yuuri’s temple. “Or wait. ‘Itadakimasu.’” His accent was thicker in Japanese than it was in English, but it was sincere. 

They sat down and enjoyed their meal together. And yeah, it didn’t taste exactly like his mom’s katsudon. But it was perfect anyway. It made the apartment home. He was _home_.


End file.
